The Trump administration will seek approval of a roughly $850 billion emergency stimulus package from Congress in order to ease the economic impact of the coronavirus, a senior administration official confirmed on Tuesday.
The senior administration official stressed that the proposal is a tax proposal, not a spending stimulus as Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is proposing. The development was first reported by The Washington Post, which said that the stimulus package could include a payroll tax cut and is expected to include about $50 billion to help the airline industry specifically.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday afternoon, President Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said they wanted to send checks to Americans as part of the proposal. Trump indicated the administration was still considering a payroll tax cut, but looking at other measures to more quickly send money to Americans. Continue reading.